Exosuit systems and methods with accessory device support

Abstract

Exosuit systems can operate in conjunction with an accessory device or other remote device that is designed to control and provide information related to the exosuit system. The accessory device can be used by a user to engage in manual control or symbiosis control of the exosuit system. The accessory device can display graphical elements such as buttons that succinctly convey operational status of various exosuit components and assistance operations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device for use with an exosuit comprising:
 a housing;   communications circuitry operative to communicate with the exosuit;   an interactive display exposed through an opening of the housing; and   a processor positioned within the housing and is configured to:
 display, on the interactive display, a plurality of exosuit control buttons, wherein each exosuit control button corresponds to at least one power layer of the exosuit responsible for implementing exosuit assistance associated with that particular exosuit control button; 
 receive data from the exosuit via the communications circuitry, the data comprising data corresponding to the at least one power layer associated with each of the exosuit control buttons; and 
 change a visual element of at least one of the exosuit control buttons based on the received data. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the visual element comprises a countdown timer that graphically illustrates when the at least one power layer associated with one of exosuit control buttons is going to activate. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein when the countdown timer expires, the at least one power layer associated with one of the exosuit control buttons is activated. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the visual element changes from an inactive state to an active state, wherein in the inactive state, the at least one power layer associated with one of the exosuit control buttons is not activated, and wherein in the active state, the at least one power layer associated with one of the exosuit control buttons is activated. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive user selection of one of the displayed plurality of exosuit control buttons; and   display, on the interactive display, a configuration screen comprising:
 an ON/OFF toggle switch operative to enable or disable the at least one power layer associated with the selected exosuit control button; and 
 a force quantity control to set a level of assistance force applied by the at least one power layer associated with the selected exosuit control button. 
   
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive a user swipe input in a first direction; and   display, on the interactive display, battery status of at least one of the power layers in response to the user swipe input in the first direction, wherein the battery status of each of the power layers is received from the exosuit via the communications circuitry.   
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive a user swipe input in a second direction; and   display, on the interactive display, a settings screen comprising:
 a posture calibration button that, when selected, is operative to calibrate the exosuit; and 
 an exosuit pairing button that, when selected, is operative to enable a user to pair the device with the exosuit. 
   
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 display, on the interactive display, a symbiosis button;   receive user selection of the symbiosis button;   display, on the interactive display, in response to user selection of the symbiosis button a scrollable list comprising:
 a plurality of exosuit assistance movement buttons each associated with an ON/OFF toggle switch; and 
 a plurality of timer buttons corresponding to respective ones of the plurality of exosuit control buttons, wherein each one of the plurality of timer buttons specifies a time limit and is further selectable to enable a user to define the time limit. 
   
     
     
         9 . A method for operating an accessory device that is in communication with an exosuit system, the method comprising:
 initiating a symbiosis mode of control for the exosuit in response to user selection of a symbiosis button on the accessory device, the symbiosis mode of control comprising:
 receiving data from the exosuit system, the data comprising a determined body posture of the user wearing the exosuit suit; 
 displaying, on an interactive display of the accessory device, a first exosuit control button comprising a first timer; 
 activating the first timer in response to receipt of the determined body posture, wherein activating the first timer comprises displaying a countdown of the first timer and during the countdown of the first timer, the exosuit system is configuring at least one flexible linear actuator associated with at least one power layer to actuate a base tone commensurate with the determined body posture; and 
 when the first timer has elapsed, changing a display element of the first exosuit control button to indicate that exosuit enabled assistance support is ready for activation, and wherein when exosuit enabled assistance support is triggered to go active, the exosuit system transitions from the base tone to active assistance support. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , the symbiosis mode of control further comprising:
 displaying, on the interactive display, a cancel button;   receiving user selection of the cancel button, wherein selection of the cancel button ends the active assistance support; and   changing the display element to indicate the exosuit enabled assistance support is not active in response to user selection of the cancel button.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , the symbiosis mode of control further comprising:
 receiving a new determined body posture while the first timer is counting down;   resetting the first timer in response to receipt of the new determined body posture; and   re-activating the first timer after the first timer has been reset and displaying the countdown of the first timer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the determined body posture is a physiological determination of a positional state or predicted motion state of a user of the exosuit system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the base tone comprises pre-emptive tensioning of the at least one flexible linear actuator that is used to provide the exosuit enabled assistance support. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein a time duration of the first timer is an amount of time configurable by a user via manipulation of a setting in the interactive display. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the time duration is the amount of time the user remained in the determined posture in order to transition to the base tone. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , the symbiosis mode of control further comprising:
 receiving a trigger to transition from the base tone to the active assistance support; and   operating the at least one power layer to provide the active assistance support.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the trigger is an elapse of the first timer. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the trigger is included in the received data provided by the exosuit system or is a input received via the interactive display. 
     
     
         19 . A method for operating an accessory device that is in communication with an exosuit system, the method comprising:
 displaying, on an interactive display, a home page comprising a symbiosis/manual toggle switch and a plurality of exosuit control buttons, wherein each of the exosuit control buttons corresponds to an exosuit assistance operation;   receiving user selection of the symbiosis/manual toggle switch to operate the exosuit system in a manual mode, wherein the manual mode requires the user to select one of the exosuit control buttons to activate the exosuit assistance operation corresponding to the selected exosuit control button; and   receiving user selection of the symbiosis/manual toggle switch to operate the exosuit system in a symbiosis mode, wherein the symbiosis mode automatically activates an exosuit assistance operation based on data received from the exosuit system, and   wherein the exosuit control button corresponding to the exosuit assistance operation is displayed with at least one display element that changes depending on a status of the exosuit control button.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one display element comprises a countdown timer that indicates when the exosuit assistance operation is ready for activation, the method further comprising displaying a configuration screen corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of exosuit control buttons, the configuration screen comprising a force quantity control to set a level of assistance force applied by the exosuit suit during activation of the exosuit assistance operation corresponding to the selected exosuit control button.